Potomac puts up a fight before falling to St. John’s
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By HUGH RIST
For the News & Messenger
Published: March 15, 2008
Covington said he knew the Panthers could compete physically with St. John’s, a Catholic school from Northwest Washington D.C. that is ranked 10th in the country by Baseball America. What he didn’t know was whether the Panthers could compete mentally.
He soon found out however as the Cadets (2-0) posted a pair of four-run innings while amassing 16 hits en route to a 10-2 pasting of the Panthers Saturday afternoon.
Early on, however, it appeared Potomac might be up to the challenge of competing against the Cadets as the Panthers tied the game 1-1 in the second inning.
Catcher Ryan Moriarty drew a leadoff walk before Zach O’Connor smashed a single to right field, moving Moriarty to third. However, O’Connor appeared to misread where the ball was going on the return throw to the infield and was caught between first and second. Shortstop Jeff Flax threw to first baseman Danny Snight to nail O’Connor attempting to return to first, putting a damper on a promising start to the inning. Mike Judge followed with a solid single to center to drive in the run, but St. John’s starter Scott Silverstein, headed to the University of Virginia next fall, retired the next two Panthers without further damage.
Covington lamented the team’s mental errors following the game.
“This wasn’t a good day. We have a tough early schedule, but when I scheduled it, I did so to see if we could stay with them mentally. The thing that concerns me most about this group is what goes on between their ears and that is what I will address with them after the game,” Covington said. “The kid misread the throw, but at least he was trying to make the right play. Later in the season, I think he doesn’t make that play.”
In the third inning, St. John’s scored four runs on four hits off Potomac starter Tyler Easterly, who yielded six runs in 3 1/3 innings, while striking out three. The outburst was highlighted by a booming home run to left center by Josh Leemhuis.
But it was the sixth inning that particularly disturbed Covington as St. John’s took a 10-1 lead while rapping four hits and taking advantage of two errors. Junior sidearmer Tyler Viera, who had relieved Easterly, pitched well, allowing just one ball to leave the infield in the inning.
“I thought the way Tyler threw and Moriarty blocked the plate were real positives today,” Cov-ington said. “We just booted the ball in that inning and it cost us. After they (St. John’s) put up a four-spot in the third inning, we just kind of went (downhill) and that was disappointing because there was a lot of baseball left at that point. Some of the guys that we need to come through on a big stage continued to not come through today. We have a few guys that are up to the challenge, but we need the other guys to step up.”
Potomac scored a run in the sixth when Alex Mastro and Tyler Covington each clubbed singles and Moriarty brought home Mastro with a solid double off the left field fence. However, Potomac batters fanned seven times, including consecutive strikeouts in the fourth with a runner on and one out.
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